


The Things We Remember, The Things We Forget

by Futsin



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Booze It's What's For Dinner, Buddies, Crossover, Drinking, Interdimensional Bros, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24161683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Futsin/pseuds/Futsin
Summary: Some time after a dimensional rift has blown an elegant cheese-loving man in plated armor into the battle against the Reapers, James Vega shares a drink with him between battles, to talk of that which was lost and that which is difficult.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	The Things We Remember, The Things We Forget

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a drabble for a friend on Tumblr a long, long time ago. Alas, I would love to have done more with this mixed crossover AU, but time and interest were not in favor.

Vega was downing his third drink in the Crew Lounge when he heard the whirr-click behind him. It was the boots and the unsteady walking that gave it away that it was their new arrival. At some point in this strange war with the Reapers, time had shifted. Or maybe it was trans-dimensional. Now a few from other worlds even their galaxy couldn’t fathom had joined the Normandy in their fight against the all-destroying behemoths in the cosmos. One such individual, a somewhat clumsy man who looked like royalty, was walking into the Lounge. Vega turned to look over his shoulder at him.

“Alistair. Come join me, mano.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your drinking alone time.”  
“Better to drink with good company than none at all. C'mon, I’ll getcha some nice tequila going.”  
“That sounds rather deceptively pleasant. Thank you.” Alistair came over and sat down, looking at the fluid being poured into an oblong opal glass. Vega put the bottle down and rose his own glass. “To surviving Palaven.” Alistair rose his own and nodded.

Tink!

Two drinks later, Alistair was feeling the effects, the burn. He wasn’t sure what to think of it, but he liked it. There was something calming in its burn when the room felt so cool to his skin. He didn’t have to wear his armor and it felt weird, being dressed as Vega was in casual shirt and slacks. To give himself familiarity again, he pulled a piece of cheese from his pocket and nibbled on it. Vega’s eyes widened. “Whoa. You got some of Traynor’s cheese? I thought she never would give that up.” Alistair smirked. “Apparently helping her get to the Commander’s chambers was all I needed.” He took a bite, loving the smooth crisp white-cheddar flavor. “Would you like some?” Vega nodded and Alistair broke him off a piece. “Geez… the cooks downstairs would go nuts for some of this. Hell, I’d like to give it to some special lady some time.” It was Alistair’s time to nod. Special lady. There’d been a lot of women who looked at him in this new world with such wonder, a few who had blushed at his candor and awkward politeness. Yet something was missing. Something he couldn’t place.

“Vega-” Alistair started, but- “James. Call me James, you’re making me feel self-conscious with that. I call you by your first name all the time.” “S-sorry.” Alistair started again. “Can I ask you something?” Vega shrugged and downed the rest of his tequila. “With five hits of tequila in me, you can ask for anything. What’s on your mind, Al?”

There was a pause as Alistair wondered what to say. He looked away from his drinking companion, instead toward the bar’s surface. The glass. The smooth metal surface lit by teal and green… neon they called it. Lights had been such a revelation to him. All this “science” and technology everywhere. It helped bring him to the question quickly.

“What do you remember of the women you’ve loved?”

Vega stopped at that. “I… wow, that’s a heavy question, dude. Do you mean physically or-?” “In any way,” Alistair clarified, eyes still looked on the colors in front of him… his hands were shaking a little.

With a deep breath, Alistair’s companion gave it a long moment to reflect. James had had his times with the ladies. His flirts, his one-night stands (or two), his dates that went great, and the girls whose presence just made him happy. In all, it was nothing too serious. Just a lot of fun to help cool down.

“I remember a lot, actually,” he said at last. “There’s not much to do between killing things or blowing them up.”  
Alistair smirked, “or crashing transport-”  
“THAT WAS INTENTION-aw hell, whatever.”

Alistair laughed and Vega could see the booze was having an effect on him that gave a certain sway in mood, like a buoy at sea. Even with the little remark, there was no glance from the man who came from a different world. He still stared at the bar. It made him wonder. “Why do you ask, man?”

The answer came softly. Introspectively. Deeply. “Because I know I was in love… but I can’t remember who with.”

Not even the word speechless could fit James’ reaction. There was a truly long pause.  
Not a second or two.  
Ten.  
Twenty.  
Forty-five seconds wore on.  
It was almost a minute until James said anything back.

“What do you remember, then?”

Alistair swallowed, trying to think as hard as he could. “Moments. Touches. Campfires illumining their face… faces, I think. I don’t remember clearly, but.. it’s almost like… I had many loves. I loved many women. They were all important to me, and somehow they all share the same moments. The same battles. The same journeys. The same talks on the road. And that first time together…” He was drifting and Vega patted him on the arm, “you sowed your seed, man!” His laugh tried to hoist his new friend up, but he could feel the weight as Alistair shrugged heavy and sighed. “Maybe.”

Vega looked at the bar himself now. “Whoever she was.. or they were-” “It was one. I think it was one, it had to be. It had to be just the one, the only one who could lead me down the way, who could say, ‘let’s go’ and I’d follow anywhere… even when she told me to go be King.” Vega stopped at that and looked at him. “Are you shittin’ me? You actually ARE fuckin’ royalty?”

“Well, the royalty part yes. The fucking… Uhm, I’m not sure what the word means yet, so-”  
“Jesus Christ, man.”  
“Fine, go on with your cursed slang and words from this time and place. See if I give a dung-heap about it,” Alistair grumbled and put his forehead on the bar’s tepid surface.

Vega frowned. “Was she royalty, too?”  
“Who?”  
“The girl.”  
“The woman?”  
“Yeah, yeah, the woman.”

Alistair looked up again, back as his drinking buddy. He was fighting back the sad puppy face that annoyed a lot of the people on this ship. “No. She wasn’t. At least, I don’t think she was… But she said I was wonderful and had to go do something more. She couldn’t follow… and then… well, then I was whisked away. To this place. And now I’m here. Without her. Without anyone. With nothing to say is mine. I had lived for so long without a home, without a family, and once I finally found one… I was taken from it by some cruel destiny.”

Another sigh. Vega poured him a drink. “You, Al, are entirely too sentimental. That or whoever controls that destiny of yours is.” Alistair took the drink and hesitated to drink it… unsure anymore of anything. James knew that face and spoke up. “She was a special person if she told you that. She must’ve loved you somethin’ fierce, like an animal tracking its prey, wanting it so bad she could taste it. And what did she do? What all the fuckin’ slogans tell you… 'if you love them, let them go.’ And she did. She wanted you to succeed. That’s special, mano, and I feel why you’re all broken up about this.” Alistair looked at him, surprised, as Vega poured himself another drink. “And ya know, you may be scared about being in this place. I’m terrified of it. Reapers? Indoctrination? Cerberus? Keeping Shepard’s fish alive? The galaxy’s even worse than just one fucked up planet. It ain’t fair that you can’t remember the good things in your life. The great ones, too. It just ain’t fuckin’ fair, Al. Not one bit.” He slammed the bottle down and took up his glass. Alistair took up his own, sensing a toast coming.

“To those we remember,” Vega said.  
“And those we forgot,” Alistair added.

Tink!


End file.
